


Starts With Their Names

by Amydiddle



Series: Growing Up Parts of a Whole [6]
Category: Sanders Sides, Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Anxiety is a basement gnome, Gen, I made this sad somehow I dont know how, Sanders Sides - Freeform, They all got names, Who no one knows exists, thomas sanders - Freeform, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 00:17:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11817234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amydiddle/pseuds/Amydiddle
Summary: "If I'm gonna tell a real story, I'm going to start with my name." ~ Kendrick LamarCreativity has been very focused on his job lately. With Thomas going into Middle School the child had gotten into many different things; one of these included theater. Practicing lines, learning songs, and just feeling truly part of a group drew Creativity to these new experiences like a moth to a flame. This also brought about an interesting thing that happened in the audition process and made a very important question appear in the child's head."Why don't we have names?"





	1. What's in a Name?

**Author's Note:**

> This is moved from my tumblr.
> 
> The idea that Logic and Morality were 'Learning and Heart' and also that the sides are locked up in rooms but there developing slowly comes from an amazing fic by FrickinGwaine called "Learning for the Heart". I loved the idea a lot and adopted it into my own HCs.

Middle school was bringing a whole new world of excitement into Thomas’ life. New friends, no interests, new feelings. It had also started to change things among the three sides that lived in his mind space. 

Logic had taken to wearing a normal vest instead of the sweater made one. The smart side has started to become a little less cheerful and more focused on his work. Heart started to switch between a cardigan over a t-shirt and his normal sweater. The emotional side had been going through many mood swings; one moment he could be smiling and the next wanting to cry. It was very odd. 

Creativity had not changed much. He still was dressed in his Peter Pan costume and refused to wear shoes. He had gotten taller and it showed with how high his shorts were getting. He did not have time to update his own wardrobe because there was a more important job to focus on. One being that Thomas had signed up for Theater. 

The side was always at attention every time Thomas did something for this new passion. More than often the other two would find him on the couch in the main hub watching the outside world as Thomas practiced. Heart would sometimes join him but would get distracted and go do something else. 

Today was one of those days where Creativity was glued to the screen alone in the hub. It was, after all, a big day for Thomas. Today was the auditions for the school musicals and Thomas needed his creative side’s full attention. 

The pre-teen watched as Thomas squirmed in his seat as he waited for his name to be called. That had been happening a lot lately. Thomas had been nervous for many things. Talking to people, doing something, and going up on stage. 

The squeak of a door dragged Creativity’s attention away from the screen to look around the room. Nothing seemed off. The door to the basement was closed tight, Heart’s door was wide open, and he had not seen anyone leave through the door to the  ~~subconscious~~ his kingdom. 

The boy frowned and glanced at all the doors one more time before he looked back up at the screen. Thomas was now on stage and seemed to have relaxed a little. 

“Hi. I’m Thomas Sanders and today I will be auditioning for the part of...”

Creativity frowned and tuned out the last of the introductory line. A new thought, or idea, began to bubble up inside his head. He wanted to get up and ask one of the older sides about it as soon as he thought it but Thomas needed him. 

He focused on the current events in Thomas’ life and hummed along with the solo. His mind halfway on making sure Thomas did an amazing job preforming and the other half on his new and important question. 

* * *

 

Thomas had finished his performance and moved fast to sit back down. As soon as the sixth grader on screen took his seat again, Creativity was out of his. The young side had a question to answer. Thomas would survive without his creative side paying extra close attention. 

The boy did not catch the slight crack in the basement’s doorway or a tired eye watching him as he left. Even if he did notice that he did not let on that he did. His mind was focused fully on his new idea. 

He stumbled into Logic’s room without so much of a greeting and looked at the two sides that sat in there. Heart was upside down with his feet up against the bed and Logic was at his desk with a stacks of paper that resembled Thomas’ homework. 

“Hey, kiddo!” Heart dropped the book he had probably been given to entertain himself with, “Thomas done with his big audition? I am sure he did fantastic.”

“Yeah, he did great and all. Naturally,” Creativity could not help but brag; a small pose being given with a dashing smile.

“Yes, well, you and Thomas have been working hard,” Logic said with a nod. “It is to be expected that you did well. I am almost certain that he will get the part.”

“Yeah,” Creativity seemed to bask in the praise but he quickly blinked out of it. The wide smile on his face being replaced with a small frown. “But that is not why I have come in here, though I do love all of this praise. I have an important question to ask.”

Heart rolled over onto his stomach and sat up. His way of saying that the youngest had his full attention. Logic looked up from his papers to give the side at the door the indication he could speak. 

Creativity took in a deep breath and stood up straight. He just had to go for it and hope the other two did not question why he thought of this idea. 

“Why don’t we have names?” 

The silence that usually was part of Logic’s room seemed to become a little more noticeable as the other two stared at the younger child.

Logic fully turned his chair away from his desk and gave the youngest side a confused look. 

“We do have names. I am Logic, he is Heart, and you are Creativity.”

“No, no, no!” Creativity shook his head, a frustrated look began to appear on his face, “I mean like actual names.”

Logic fixed his glasses; obviously annoyed with being told no. “Those are our actual names,” he pointed out. 

“We aren’t not following you, C,” Heart said with some kind smile. 

“I mean, like, how Thomas is called Thomas. If we are kind of people why do we just label ourselves instead of naming ourselves,” Creativity turned in a circle with his hands waved in the air as if that would help his point. “We don’t call Thomas, host or human, for Jiminy Cricket’s sake!”

“We have never needed a ‘name’ before. Our labels have been good enough,” Logic stated slowly, “They categorize us and make it easy for someone to know what our functions are.” 

“But we are the only three here,” Heart said in a tone that just screamed he was going to Creativity’s side. “And as much as I love calling you Logic, I do like this idea Creativity is giving us. It would even be fun to make up human names!”

“That is the spirit, Heart!” 

“But...but we don’t need names!” Logic tried to argue, “I...I mean, why change something? Heart, you always get confused when something changes.”

“But why not do something because it sounds fun?” Hear countered back, “I think coming up with a cool name would be really fun. Think of all the pun-ortunities!” 

Creativity smiled brightly. He was happy Heart was on board with his new idea.

“You don’t have to choose a new name if you don’t want to, Logic,” Creativity said with a kind smile, “But you are going to be missing out on all the fun me and Heart are going to have trying to find one.”

The kind smile turned into a smirk and Logic bristled under it. The creative side started to count down slowly to when the smart side would snap and join the side of human names. It would be any...minute...now...

“Fine,” Logic said with a dramatic huff and stood from his chair, “But I am only joining because you two will not know the complex meanings in names and will need assistance researching to choose the perfect ones that would suit you.” 

* * *

 

“What about...Peter?” Heart’s finger thumped down onto the name in the book he had in front of him and he looked at the green clad side expectantly. 

“Boring,” Creativity answered back with a sigh. They had been at this for hours. He had thought that choosing a name would have been a fun exciting thing but so far it was just dead ends and faces at everything that Heart suggested. 

“How is it boring?” The emotion based side asked, “You are dressed like Peter Pan I would think it would be the most suited for you, C.”

Creativity shrugged and finished the drawing of a dog he had been doodling on the piece of paper that he should have been brainstorming on. 

“I just don’t think it suits me. It is boring.” 

“I also do not think a name meaning rock would suit him well,” Logic said. The pre-teen sat with his feet up against the table and another book in his lap. He already had a list of names in alphabetical order in front of him; a few them of them crossed off. “He is not really the perfect example of a strong foundation

“Yeah, if it means rock it defiantly is not going to-hey! What does that mean?”

Logic straightened his glasses and pretended to focus on his page.

“Now that was not very nice, Logic,” Heart said with a disappointed look on his face, “Now say you’re-HEY! That is a cool name!” 

The side was easily distracted as he wrote down another name onto his sheet of paper. He put a little heart by it and then, with a slam, he closed the book. 

“Welp, I’m done.”

“What!?!” The other two looked over at Heart in shock. 

“You only wrote one name down,” Creativity pointed out and Heart nodded with a smile on his face. 

“How could you possibly know that it is the right one?” Logic questioned. 

“The heart wants what it wants,” Heart said dramatically and placed a hand over his chest with a dreamy smile on his face, “And I feel it in my bones that this is the right one.”

Creativity seemed to take this as a good explanation and planted his elbows on the table. 

“Alright, so what’s your name?”

Heart opened his mouth to tell the others but Logic quickly muffled him with his hand. 

“No! We do not want his decision somehow influencing ours. We will all choose a name and then introduce ourselves once we have chose-EW!” Logic pulled his hand away from Heart’s mouth with a look of disgust. The stuck out tongue told the story perfectly and Creativity had to giggle. 

“Really, Heart, that is immature of you.” 

“Thank you,” Heart said and slid the book over to Creativity. “I am going to get you two some snacks while you continue to name hunt.”

The eldest hopped from his chair and patted the youngest side on the head before he skipped off to the kitchen. Creativity sighed and looked over at Logic for some kind of help but found the studious side back into action looking through the book of names. 

He would get no cure from boredom there so he might as well flip through the book and hope that the name would pop out at him. He needed something that sounded strong and daring. That embodied the creativity that he was. Something that would be as great as he was. Something that showed the passion that he had inside. 

Something like...like that!

A small gasp left the boy as his eyes landed on the perfect name that laid buried in the ‘r’ section. It was perfect. All that Thomas had learned and what his ‘heart’ was saying just made that simple little word sing to him. 

“I take it you found a name then?” Logic asked. The boy had crossed out a few names he had on his sheet of paper. 

“I think I have,” Creativity whispered in delight, “Oh, Logic, when you find yours it is going to fill you up with so much joy.”

Logic made a small noise and went back to crossing out names and erasing somethings on his paper. Honestly, Creativity thought that the logical side was putting way too much thought into this simple task but he knew saying something would not do any good.

“I’m going to go help, Heart,” Creativity said, “Meet us in the hub when you are done, okay?”

“Yes. Yes, have fun and all that.” 

The youngest chuckled and skipped out of the room; his new name playing over and over again in his head like a happy song. He could not wait to tell the others.

* * *

 

It seemed to take ages for Logic to finally come out of his room. In the time it took for the side to show his face Creativity and Heart had consumed one and a half plates of cookies and watched all of Sleeping Beauty. It was the only thing they could do to not blurt out their new names to each other. 

Logic’s appearance made them both sigh outwardly in relief. The poor composed side did not have a chance to balance himself as he was dragged into their hastily made pillow fort. 

“Finally you are here, nerd!” Creativity said with a laugh, “We thought you died from trying to choose the most obscure name in the books.” 

“Yes, well, it was a hard decision,” Logic said as he straightened his bow-tie and glasses back to their normal position. “I was stuck between the meaning of a name and the possible pathway from a meaning to a name. In the end I think I chose the correct one.”

“Cool,” Heart said and crossed his legs, “So who is going first?” 

They all glanced at each other. A wave of nervousness went over them all as they stared. Out of the corner of Creativity’s eye he could have sworn he saw something small and dark creep out towards the entrance of the hallway but he was not certain if it was just the blanket or something else. 

He started to turn to look but Logic pulled his attention back to the moment at hand. 

“Well, since no one is volunteering I guess I shall go first.” The boy sat up straighter and smoothed out his pants before holding out a hand for either of them to take. 

“Hello, I am Logan,” he glanced away from the two, “I chose this name because of the term Logos which means the logical side of an argument. Also, I am quiet found of my normal title.” 

His hand stayed suspended in the hand for a few second but for the nervous side it seemed to be agonizing hours. Finally, Heart took the hand and shook it with a bright smile on his face. 

“Nice to meet you, Logan!” 

“Yeah,” Creativity leans back against one of the pillows, “It suits you; its nerdy.” 

“Thank you? I think?” Logan’s face dusted pink from embarrassment and he pulled his hand free of Heart’s grip. He tried to act like that had not been the scariest thin in his life but it did shake him some. 

The pre-teen took in a deep breath and turned his head back to face the other sides. 

“Alright, who is next? Don’t make me call on someone.” 

Creativity grinned brightly and jumped up from his pillow seat.

“You asked for it and here I am. The  one, the only,” He struck a pose; one hand up flamboyantly and the other across from that to make a small frame. “Roman Sanders!”  

“Roman,” Logan said the name slowly with an approving nod, “Interesting choice. I suppose you chose that because of Romance or Romantic seeing how that plays into most fanciful dreams and is the leading theme in princess movies?”

“No? I kind of was thinking about the Roman Empire and how it was really awesome,” Roman said with a snort, “I mean, they were grand and dramatic and everyone knew about them. They owned the whole world!”

“No they didn’t.”

“But that is a cool way to think of it too,” Roman finished as if Logan had not said anything. With a showy bow he flopped back onto the pillows. 

Heart clapped his hands and pulled Roman into a tight hug. “Well I think that is an amazing name, kiddo! Really suits you.”

“Yes, yes. Took me forever to find the shoe that fits,” Roman waved him off, “But now it is your turn, Heart. Tell us the name. Tell us the name.”

“Alright. Alright,” Heart chuckled and ruffled the youngest’s hair. The pre-teen took in a breath and waits a moment for some tension before he let the name out into the air for the first time. 

“Patton!”

“Patton?” Creativity said a little shocked. 

“Oh, like Pathos. The form of argument used to invoke an emotional response,” Logic countered back with a stunned but pleased look on his face. 

Patton laughed and looked at Logan confused, “What? I just chose it because I could make some Pat jokes. Like ‘Someone needs a  _Patton_ the back’ or ‘let’s play a game of  _Patton-ca_ -OH MAN I SHOULD MAKE THAT AN ACTUAL GAME!”

The heart squealed and hugged Logan tightly. “Logan, can you go find me some tennis rackets?” 

“Why?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Roman interrupted them and looked at the two of them confused, “You both are missing something really weird that just happened.”

“We are?” Patton looked around the pillow covered hub but he was not seeing what they were missing. 

“Yeah, you are. How in this small world did we manage to choose names that ended similarly without telling each other?” 

Logan frowned and tapped his chin. “That is odd...”

“Yeah,” Patton said with a small frown but brightened back up quickly, “I guess that just means we are a super duper close family! Group Hug!” 

The side reached over and pulled Roman into the embrace. The happy side humming in delight with having the two others close. 

“Roman.” 

The side in question turned his head to look at the one that said his new name. He was a little surprised that it was Logan that said it. The smart side glanced away nervously before looking directly at the creative one. 

“This was a good idea.”

“You mean it?” 

“Yes,” Logan said with a small nod, “I do.” 


	2. Very Vigilant V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Creativity gets the idea for the names Anxiety is eavesdropping. 
> 
> The silent side had been trying to figure out the best way to introduce himself to the other three and this might be the way. If he names himself they will see he is willing to work with them and be a friend! Now, what name to choose?

It was another torturous day down in the basement. The young side had been out of his room for almost a year now but he was still very unsure about how to go about introducing himself to the three that lived upstairs. 

Anxiety sat on the couch and stared at the giant screen of the TV that took up some of the space in his dwelling. He had started to associate this place as his. It was dark, like he guessed he was, and cold, so his hoodie was always needed. 

The pre-teen glanced over at the stairs and felt his heart beat picked up. He was not sure if it was because Thomas was about to do something nerve wracking or because he thought about just going upstairs and casually walking to get a sandwich. 

_Would that be a good way to tell them I’m here?_

__**Don’t be stupid. That is a stupid idea.  
They will probably think you are some demon. Or a freak.   
That is too casual and it would hurt them or make them angry that you had not come up to say hello before.   
But the longer you stay down here the more you are putting off the inevitable. **

**_JUST GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM AND STAY THERE!_ **

Anxiety pushed his hoodie covered hands over his ears and tried to block out the voices. They were the only bad thing about this place. They said such awful things and made him want to cry and scream...course he never did because he was scared the people upstairs would hear him. 

There was a way to get them to go away, at least for a little bit. He just had to work up the nerve to do it. 

He sent a glance at the blank screen again, he was always too scared to turn it on in case they heard, and gave a small sigh. 

**_You could get caught._  
If they saw you they would be so scared that they had a freak like you living down here.   
You would be better staying hidden and just sitting in the dark.  
Just go back to bed.  
**

Anxiety pushed himself to his feet and pulled the hood of the hoodie over his head. The boy rubbed away some tears with his sleeve and dragged his feet over to the stairs. 

**_You could trip and fall on those stairs and no one would know that you got hurt. No one would care._ **

“Shut up,” Anxiety grit out. His childish voice was raw from the lack of use. 

The child shoved his hands into his pockets and stopped at the base of the stairs to stare up at the top. The door up there had a light streaming through the cracks. Just being up there helped chase these voices away to little whispers. 

The boy took in a deep breath and slowly made his way up; one sock covered foot at a time. He counted each one as he went. 

“Four...six...ten...elevennnn?” 

He stopped just before the last one when he heard something on the other side of the door. 

The boy sat down on the twelfth step and pressed his ear against the door. It did not sound like a Disney movie, which was usually playing in the main room. It more resembled a young girl singing a song on a home movie. It was a little off key but Anxiety had to admit that she was good. 

He palms sweated as he reached for the handle. Just a breath of some of the air and a glimpse and the voices would go away for a little bit. 

The child sucked in a breath and pushed the door open a crack. The light spilled in and hit his pale face so he had to blink to adjust his eyes so he could see. 

The hub was the same as ever. A boy dressed in green sat on the couch in there with his eyes glued to the screen in front of him. On the screen a girl took a bow and people were clapping. Something in the back of the young side’s head told him that this was the world around Thomas at that very moment. 

He could feel the nerves coming off of the boy on the screen in waves. 

_Am I causing that?_

Anxiety leaned in a little more to watch what was going to happen as the director called Thomas up to the stage but the basement door blew his cover. The unused hinges squeaked and made the boy jump in fright. He did not stay to see if Creativity noticed him.

The darkly dressed side was down the stairs in an instant and hid in his room; his heart beating like a hammer. He would try to go back up there later...when no one was around. Right now he just needed to be alone in the dark.

* * *

 

The broken clock on his wall was no help. Anxiety did not know how long he had sat in his room in the dark but he assumed it had been for awhile. His breathing had finally gone back to normal and he just felt that bitter shame of being afraid of something as simple as interacting with someone he desperately wanted to meet. 

 _Why can’t I be normal and just go say hi?_ He resisted the urge to hide his face in his pillow and forced his body to remove itself from the bed. 

The time for self wallowing, presumably, had passed. He had more important things to do. Such as going upstairs to take some food, clear his head, and hurrying back down before anyone could notice him. 

**_You are really going to try again?  
After you almost got caught the last time?  
Do you want to stay hidden or do you want them to be mad at you for hiding for so long?_ **

Anxiety gave a sigh and left his room. Despite the act of disinterest he was still very cautious as he crept up the stairs and opened the door to peer out. 

The screen was still on but Creativity was nowhere to be seen. This gave Anxiety more confidence to push the door open. It still squeaked but no one came running to see what had made that sound so he took it as a signal to go. 

The pre-teen’s nails dug into his palm as he stepped out into the warmth of the main hub. It was so much different from his basement. It was a comfortable warmth that made one feel safe. It was a nice bright that stung his eyes a little because of the darkness that he was used to but once adjusted a person could really love it. 

The screen was not as big as the one down stairs but it did its job well. The side could still see Thomas sitting there. The child still looked nervous but less so. The more he watched his host the most he understood what was going on inside the boy’s head. 

 _What if the performance wasn’t good enough?_ He asked himself for Thomas.  _What if they think you are a failure? What if they call you out on how terrible it is? **What if they just tell you that you did good but are lying about it?**_

_**Was this really a good idea to put yourself out there?** _

Anxiety closed his eyes tightly and looked away from the screen. He felt dizzy because of the intensity of those thoughts. Thomas was worrying about them and he was Thomas’ worry; he was starting to really understand that concept.

 _What am I doing up here again?_ He used that question to put himself back on track. The young side did not need another distraction like that. 

He took his hands out of his pockets to make sure his hood was fully pulled up to cover his face and hurried across the room towards the kitchen. His ears were on high alert for any sign that any of the other sides were on their way back into the room so he could run and hide. 

He was prepared to hurry up with the sneaking food process when he heard Creativity talking from one of the rooms in the hallway as he passed but the topic stopped him.  _What did he just say?_

“We do have names,” the child heard someone say, “ I am Logic, he is Heart, and you are Creativity.”

 _When did Learning turn to Logic?_ Anxiety wondered and moved a little closer to the entrance to the hall to hear a little better. He could tell the voices were coming from Lea-Logic’s door but he was no brave enough to get that close. 

“No, no, no! I mean like actual names!” The dramatic way the statement was said made it obvious it was Creativity. The few times he had been up here he had learned Creativity’s voice fast; the side was a big drama queen. 

“Those are our actual names,” came the reply.

_What is Peter Piper trying to get at?_

“We aren’t following you, C,” a new voice said. Anxiety guessed it must be Heart. 

He had to agree with this new voice; he did not understand what Creativity wanted them to get. ‘Actual’ names? Wasn’t Anxiety or Heart or Creativity their ‘actual’ name? That is what they had gone by since they arrived. He refused to count Logic because that change was weird. 

“I mean, like, how Thomas is called Thomas. If we are kind of people why do we just label ourselves instead of naming ourselves,” Creativity said from inside the room, “We don’t call Thomas, host or human, for Jiminy Cricket’s sake!” 

Anxiety stood up straighter and frowned in thought. He had to admit to himself that the dramatic side had a very good point.  _These ‘names’ are just labels aren’t they? They don’t fully make up who we are. _Why don’t we have normal names?__

“But we are the only three here,” Heart’s words pulled Anxiety back to reality and he listened in on the conversation again. “And as much as I love calling you Logic, I do like this idea Creativity is giving us. It would even be fun to make up human names!” 

_That’s it! If they are getting human names I will get one too! Then I can introduce myself with that and they won’t be weirded out and maybe see I want to be up here with them too._

Anxiety pulled himself back out of the hallway just enough so in case the others appeared he could run and hide. He had a smile on his pale face as he hurried over to the kitchen, the original destination. He needed some brain food before he got started on this brain storming. 

The side needed to make sure he chose the most perfect name ever.

* * *

 

Choosing a name was much harder than Anxiety thought it would be. 

At first, he had taken to sitting in the basement with the cookies he stole and just writing down every name Thomas had ever heard. They ranged from Bob to Brittany to Joan to Ann. When he was done with the list he would stare at each possible name and cross it out when he thought of every possible way that it was terrible. 

He had tried to think of positives of the names but nothing came to mind. When he had finished going through the list the side was close to tears and the voices were screaming loudly at him from all angles. 

The poor child grabbed the paper and his pencil and left the basement as slowly as he dared. 

His second attempt was pretty much the same but this time he was seated on the kitchen floor. He went through each of the names in front of him and actually got some positives in there before the negatives came. None of the names really spoke to him the way he guessed they should. 

The third attempt had been to lay on the kitchen floor with more cookies and try and come up with a cool name. He did not want something with an A at the front because it reminded him too much of his label. Anxiety was his function not who he was so why match it? 

Still those were the only dumb names that came to mind. 

Angel; nah. It sounded too sweet and nice. It would not fit with his basement dweller life. 

Andrew; he is pretty sure Thomas knows a kid named Andrew. Anxiety is pretty sure that kid ate glue. Not a good name. 

Ann; was a name of a girl that used to kick the kick balls too hard and one of them hit Thomas in the face. That had hurt a lot. 

Anthony; he could not see that name working out. 

The fourth attempt really should have been his first, Anxiety admitted this now as he sat in the hallway behind Logic’s open door. The three sides had been brainstorming in that room for awhile and Heart was listing names out for Creativity to reject or accept. 

“Oliver?” Heart asked and Anxiety went over the name in his head while Creativity responded with his usual rejection. 

Oliver was a nice name but he was not sure if he would like to use it for himself. It seemed like a better name for a cat. 

“Okay, here is one. What about Owen?” 

 _Owen is a nice name._ Anxiety mused over it. It was something he could live with to. Had a nice simple ring to it.  _I’ll put it in the possibly list._

“Are you even going in alphabetical order? Logic asked from somewhere in the room. 

“I am just going with anything that sounds cool,” Heart said with a small laugh. 

The sound of pages flipping dramatically came after that statement and then the thump of a hand hitting a page. 

“Like I can go from O’s to V’s and say stuff liiiiike,” Heart drew out the like as he probably read over the names in the book he had with him, “Victor, Vincent, Virgil, or Valentine. Any of those to your liking, kiddo?” 

“No,” Creativity answered in the bored fashion.

"Now you aren’t even trying to be alphabetical,” Logic groaned. “Go back to the O’s. At least you were kind of organized.” 

Heart scoffed but the sound pages turning started again. Anxiety used that to time over the names that the emotional side had said. 

V was an interesting letter. One that was not seen or heard of often.

 _Victor...wasn’t that the name of the guy that created Frankenstein? That would be a cool name._ Anxiety thought and mulled it over in his head. The more he did the more it left a sour taste in his mouth. Vincent was a success either and Valentine was out of the question. 

Virgil though. 

_It sounds cool. Maybe-_

The slam of a book made Anxiety jump out of his thoughts and press back against the wall hard. The name flew from his head like a whisper on the wind. It took a few deep breaths to chase away the panic and listen back in on the conversation to find out what had happened. He hoped that it was not Creativity’s boredom that had made one of the others mad. 

“The heart wants what it wants,” Anxiety heard Heart say in a dramatic fashion, if it wasn’t for the overly cheery undertone he would have thought it was Creativity speaking, “And I feel it in my bones that this is the right one.” 

“Alright,” the real Creativity said, “So what’s your name?”

Anxiety leaned close to the doorway in hopes to finding out the name of his fellow side. Maybe whatever Heart chose would give him a better idea on what he should choose as a human name. 

“No!” And Logic deflated that dream just like that. “We do not want his decision somehow influencing ours. We will all choose a name and then introduce ourselves once we have chose-EW!” 

Anxiety leaned away from the door and turned the others out. He had to focus; he had two possible names and no right answer. He just had to choose which ever ‘his heart wanted’, he guessed.

* * *

 

Heart and Creativity had left the room once they had found their name. The firs tot go had been Heart and Anxiety worried he would have been spotted but it turned out his hiding spot was very good. Creativity had been out a moment later with a song ready to burst forth. 

The time that passed after they left had seemed to move slowly for the indecisive side behind the door. When he would lean towards one name he always found a way to crawl back to the other. This was starting to happen less and less the more he started to refer to himself as Virgil in his head but he still was unsure. 

Would the others like the name? Creativity had rejected it, but he also had rejected Owen. 

 _What nicknames can you even make out of Owen? You can make Virg out of Virgil but Owen is kind of stuck._ Was one of his reasons to lean towards the V name.

He just could not make a solid decision without some kind of solid understanding to these names. He could not get the solid understanding until Logic left which was difficult because the side was still in there.

As if on cue, a book inside the room closed and the squeak of a chair being pushed back sounded. Anxiety held his breath as the smart side slowly left the room muttering something under his breath. 

The young side behind the door counted slowly just in case Logic would come back and grab something. When he reached fifteen he got up to his feet and raced around the door to entered this new space. 

Logic’s room was cold but not as cold as the basement. It was decorated with book shelves and clean lines and the only things that seemed out of place was the book that had been left on the floor. The only conclusion for that, in Anxiety’s head, was that is was the book Heart had been reading from. 

With a wary glance over his shoulder he moved to the book and opened it. The boy just took a quick glance at the table of contents just to find the ‘O’ section and looked up the name Owen. The meaning was not something he liked much. 

Owen: _A traditional Welsh name meaning "young warrior" or "well born," "noble."_

That did not suit him at all. If anything, it should have gone to Creativity seeing how the side liked to brag about adventures. Even Anxiety, a side that barely came up, knew about the great deeds of the other side. 

The pre-teen frowned and ran a hand through his hair. 

This name was a bust and he only had one other hope. If that failed then he would be at square one. Not even square one because he did not have time to sit in Logic’s room and look through the book like the other did. 

Desperately, the shaken child turned the pages to the ‘V’ section and began to scan it for the other name. The name he had hope for. The name that...that suited him so perfectly. 

Virgil:  _The etymology of the Latin name Vergilius/Virgilius is not known, but its **meaning** is hypothesized to be 'Vigil'._

Vigil. He was very vigilant. He was always keeping careful watch for possible danger that may hurt Thomas. It was almost like this name was made for him in mind. 

“Virgil,” He spoke the name softly to himself and stood up from the floor, “I’m Virgil.”

Carefully, the boy closed the book and left the room in the state that it had been when Logic left it. He had a small spring in his cautious steps as he made his way down the hall and peered out into the main hub. 

In the time spent waiting for Logic, Heart and Creativity had changed it into a pillow fort. It looked very warm and welcoming but he found himself frozen in place in the entrance to the hallway. 

He had found a name but now he was not sure if he could just step out and introduce himself. The boy decided it better to sit down in the hall and listen to the others; maybe having them all give their’s first would give him some bravery. 

Logic’s being Logan made him smile. The smart side had not wanted to find a name at first and it made sense he did not change too much. It also seemed to really fit the nerdy child. For only knowing him in passing he could tell that Logan fit the sid perfectly; Anxiety was glad it seemed the others agreed. 

The smile faded for a second and than returned when Creativity introduced himself as Roman. He had not expected that name to come out of the showy side’s mouth but seemed to fit him well. Logan’s explanation also made it make sense. Anxiety was not sure if he like the name much but it wasn’t his to choose. 

His smile disappeared completely when Heart said his name was Patton. It was a nice name and the side’s need for jokes was very heart warming. Anxiety did admit that it would fit the eldest of them very well but he was focused on the glaring obvious that was between the older three. 

Anxiety slid back into the hall and hugged his knees to his chest. 

Patt _on_. Log _an_. Rom _an_. 

“You both are missing something really weird that just happened,” he heard Crea-Roman say. 

“We are?” Came the confused reply from Hear-Patton. 

“Yeah, you are. How in this small world did we manage to choose names that ended similarly without telling each other?” 

“That is odd...” Logan said.

“Yeah,” Patton agreed for only a moment before he tried to tear the attention away from the odd with the comment of, “I guess that just means we are a super duper close family! Group Hug!” 

 _Somehow I have managed to still be the odd man out; the last to the party that no one invited me to._ Anxiety thought sadly as he hid his face in his knees. 

He liked the name Virgil. He WAS Virgil. He did not want to change it after so much time spent trying to make sure it was right, even though it was clear now it was not. 

As much as he wanted to go in there and make himself known the fear of them hating him for being different caused him to move back further into the hall. He did not need to tell him his name. 

He, Virgil, could hide it away just like he is hiding now. It could be another one of his secrets. He already had so many; like his very existence. 

The boy felt tears start to form but he held them back. He could not cry while up here but he could not head back downstairs until they hall left. With a sniffle he got up and walked down the hallway. He had hidden in the room of memories plenty of times before. 

**_Why do I even try?_ **


End file.
